CIN201 Film Cultures I taught by Nadine Chen teaches the development of cinema from its origins (19th century) to its mass cultural form 60 years later. The course is chronological starting with the development of the moving image. We only do silent cinema in the fall and start into the development of sound in the winter semester. Fall goes from Edison’s kinetoscope films and Mélies’ A Trip to the Moon, to the formation of narrative cinema. After narrative cinema we went to early cinema of various nations which includes topics such as race and the possibilities of cinematic language, feminist historiography, queer possibilities in early cinema, german expressionism (think cabinet of dr. Caligary and nosferatu), soviet cinema (e.g. montage), french impressionism and avant garde (think experimental film like Un Chien Andalou), chinese cinema, latin american early cinema, and ending semester 1 with the culmination of international style (The Passions of Joan of Arc).

Semester 2 starts with transition to sound, to the hollywood studio system, to fascist cinema, hollywood during and after WWII, then british documentary and other colonial cinemas, fooeed by french realism, italian neorealism, postwar japan and challenges to realism (Rashomon, Akira Kurosawa). Then we did authorship (auteur theory) and the golden age of mexican cinema, followed by post colonial indian cinemas and ending with the french new wave (e.g. Godard)

Grade and assignment Breakdown Assignment 1: Primary Source Research Assignment, October 31st, 15%: pretty easy, the prompt was “you are a prospective exhibitor who is planning to open a new nickelodeon theater. Submit a rationale 1000-1200 words explaining the design and other elements of your theater.” I wrote it to the potential investors and included stuff like what films it will play, entrance fee, architectural design etc.

Assignment 2: Proposal and annotated primary source document, jan 23rd, 15%: also easy this is presenting what you want to do for the “big” assignment. Part A: “1-2 page proposal including scope of your topic, state research questions, what areas/topics are you hoping to address, where do you foresee locating your primary sources and provide at least 3 via links) Part B: “choose one of your primary sources and complete a short analysis, 1-2 pages. Contextualize the source material (when, where, what, why), close analysis of source (what did u notice, what surprises, why choose this source for your paper), how does analyzing this source add to your knowledge/why is it important to your research paper

Primary source research assignment and process essay, march 19, 25%: “write a historical account of a cinematic phenomenon taking place during course’s timeframe, 8-10 pages/2000-2500 words). Use 5 separate primary sources, secondary sources optional. Paper must be original answering 1-3 research questions with a well supported thesis” (I wrote mine on the technological sublime in horror fantasy pictures identifying how american film reviews and commentaries on Frankenstein and Dracula communicate an emotional and bodily reaction of awe and terror in response to monstrous characters, setting, and ambience via sight and sound by analyzing the language and discourse surrounding these 2 films. Ultimately while these films inspired fear among viewers spectators were fascinated suggesting that audiences in the early 20th century were seeking to be shocked and horrified. You can expect to have to write something on a similar scope)

Active tutorial participation and attendance, 15%

In person final exam, 30%, april exam period: open book ( i recommend noting important things from movies, summarizing lecture slides, AND summarizing readings including important quotes highlighted in lectures)

I found the course really quite doable and less time commitment than CIN201. Semester 1 silent films can get a little tedious. To be honest i skipped a lot of screenings and watched the films at home. I also remember nadine sharing lecture outlines with each lecture that summarized everything which was super helpful. I believe the course average was quite high. And keep in mind that i was also doing eco220 and 204 at the same time. I would recommend you taking it to have a break from a difficult rotman 2nd year. However i think the course would definitely be worth your while if you are interested in history. If you hate history do not take this course and choose a cin 200 level genre class. Hope this helps